Stepping staff

ABSTRACT

A stepping staff is disclosed which comprises a plurality of sections coupled together in telescoping manner. A sighting target is arranged on the uppermost section. The sections have a plurality of sets of detents with which collars are engaged. The collars enable the sections to be rotated relative to one another to bring a corresponding set of detents on the sections into alignment with one another. The collars have engaging members which locate in detents in the set of detents and enable the sections to be moved relative to one another and to the section by an integral number of distances corresponding to the spacing of the detents in the set of detents by locating the engaging members in appropriate detents in the set of detents.

This invention relates to a stepping staff and in particular to a brickstepping course rod to enable height references for brick work to bemade and to a surveying staff to enabling measurements to be taken inbuilding work.

Conventional surveying staffs commonly used to enable height referenceto be taken during the formation of brick work or in other building workrequire a surveyor or other trained person to make an initial readingusing an optical level and thereafter workmen are required to takemeasurements from the staff by inspecting gradations formed on thestaff. Conventional surveying staffs therefore suffer from the problemthat it is often necessary for untrained people to read a staff whichcan result in errors in measurements being made.

The object of this invention is to provide a stepping staff which caneasily be used by untrained personnel and therefore result in a lowerlikelihood of errors being made whilst taking measurements.

The invention may be said to reside in a stepping staff, said steppingstaff having a plurality of sections coupled together for movementrelative to one another, one of said sections having a sighting target,at least one of said plurality of said sections having a set of couplingmeans, and an adjacent one of the sections having engaging means forengaging with one of the coupling means in the set, each coupling meansin the set of coupling means being spaced apart by a prescribed distancesuch that upon relative movement of the at least one section andadjacent section one coupling means on the at least one section can becoupled with the engaging means on the adjacent section.

The invention also provides a stepping staff having a plurality ofsections coupled together for telescopic movement relative to eachother, a first section of said plurality of sections having a firstcollar mounted thereon, a second section of said plurality of sectionshaving a plurality of sets of substantially vertically aligned engagingmembers spaced about said second section, said first collar supporting acoupling member which is engagable with an engaging member in anyone ofsaid sets of engaging members, said second section being rotatable aboutits longitudinal axis relative to said first collar so that any one ofthe engaging members can be brought into engagement with said engagingmember in one of the sets of engaging members, and said first and secondsections can be telescopically moved relative to one another to locatethe first coupling member in another of the engaging members in said oneof said sets to adjust the height of the stepping staff by anincremental distance.

Accordingly, relative measurements can be made with the stepping staffof this invention by simply moving one of the sections relative to theother of the sections so that a coupling means on one of the sections iscoupled with an engaging means on the other of the sections. Since thecoupling means are spaced by a predetermined distance the coupling ofone of the coupling means with the engaging means upon relative movementof the staff means that the height of the staff has been altered by thespacing between the coupling means or by a number of times that distanceif the sections are moved relative to the other such that the engagingmeans on one of the sections moves over a number of the coupling meanson the other of the sections. Thus, measurements can be made by simplymoving the sections relative to one another without the need to readgraduations on the staff.

Preferably, the coupling means comprises a plurality of detents formedin each section which may comprise holes drilled in the sections and theengaging means is a collar which supports a loaded ball which engageswith the detents on the sections to couple the sections together.

Each section may include a plurality of sets of detents spaced apart bydifferent prescribed distances corresponding to course heights invarious type of brick work.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in more detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of a stepping staff embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along the line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the line 5--5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a view of a sighting target of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along the line 7--7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a drawn out view of part of the stepping staff of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a view of a second embodiment of the invention.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 a stepping staff 10 is shown whichcomprises an outer hollow tubular member 12 which received anintermediate hollow tubular member 14 which in turn received an innerhollow tubular member 16. The tubular members 12, 14 and 16 can betelescoped together so that they can be extended outwardly or drawninwardly in the direction of double headed arrow A. Mounted on thetubular section 12 is a collar 20 which is secured to the section 12 ina fixed relationship by a screw 22 which passes through an opening inthe collar 20 and engages the outer wall of the section 12. The section14 also has a collar 24. However, the collar 24 is adapted to be rotatedabout the section 14 in the manner to be described hereinafter.

A sighting target 26 which has a stem 28 is received in the hollowsection 16. The sighting target 26 may have holes and/or pins 30together with a cross-hair 32 to facilitate laser sighting.

The cross-section of the section 12 is circular as shown in FIG. 4.However, the outer surface of the section 12 includes a recessed portion34 which received a measuring tape 36. The recess accommodates themeasuring tape 36 so that the surface of the measuring tape 36 is flushwith the remainder of the section 12 to provide a smooth finish. Thecross-section of the sections 14, 16 and 28 is similar to the section 12and further measuring tapes 36a, 36b, and 36c are received in thoserecesses. The recess and the flush mounting of the tapes on the sections14, 16 and 28 enables the sections to smoothly slide together withoutcatching or damaging the tapes.

The sections 14 and 16 each include a plurality of sets of recesses ordetents 50A, 50B, 50C, and 50D. Each detent or recess in each set on arespective section 14 or 16 is vertically aligned and in the embodimentshown in the drawings four sets of detents are provided. The spacingbetween detents in each set is different and corresponds to the courseheight in brick work or to other standard heights which need to bemeasured in building or excavation work or the like. In the embodimentshown in the drawings the four sets of detents 50A, 50B, 50C and 50D arespaced apart 90° around the circumference of the sections 14 and 16 asis best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Alternatively the four sets of detentscould be arranged at 30°, 150°, 210° and 330°. This allows two largespaces of 120° between detents if it is desired to use a wider tape.Other convenient arrangements of the detents could also be used.

FIG. 8 shows a drawn out view of part of the sections 14 and 16 in thevicinity of the collar 24. The view in FIG. 8 is an expanded out view asif the circular sections 14 and 16 were cut open and laid out flat sothat the four sets of detents 50A, 50B, 50C, and 50D can be clearlyseen. This view clearly shows the different spacing between detents ineach set. FIG. 8 also clearly shows a groove 52 which joins the detentsin each set of detents. It should be noted that the depth of the detentsin each set is somewhat deeper than the groove 52 which joins thedetents. It should also be noted that in place of detents which are arecess in the sections a hole which passes right through the sectionscould be used.

The collar 20 is provided with a threaded hole which receives anengaging member 56 which has a head 58 and a screw threaded shank 60.The screw threaded shank 60 is adapted to be screw threaded into thehole 54 and the shank 60 is hollow and receives a spring loaded ball 62which projects slightly outwardly of the end of the shank 60. The ball62 may be held in place by a reduced diameter flange at the end of theshank 60 behind which the equator or widest diameter portion of the ballis received. The spring (not shown) which is received in the shank andforces the ball outwardly also allows the ball to be pushed back intothe shank against the bias of the spring.

The collar 24 is similar to the collar 20 but has two screw threadedholes 70 and 72 (see FIG. 5). Two engaging members 74 and 76 arereceived in the holes 70 and 72 in the same manner as the member 56 isreceived in the hole 54. Each of the members 74 and 76 has a springloaded ball 78 and 80 respectively which are mounted in the members 74and 76 in the same manner as the ball 62 is mounted in the member 56.

As is best seen in FIG. 5, the collar 24 is provided with a stepped bore82 which extended all the way through the collar. The stepped bore has alarger diameter portion 84 which receives the section 14 and a reduceddiameter portion 86 which receives the section 16. The top portion ofthe section 14 is provided with a circumferential groove 90 and a detent92 is provided on the groove colinear with each of the sets of detents50A, 50B, 50C, and 50D on the section 14. Once again the detents 92 areslightly deeper than the grooves 90 and are also of larger diameter thanthe width of the groove 90.

The location of the ball 80 in groove 90 will prevent vertical movementof the collar 24 relative to the section 14. However, a screw (notshown) could pass through the collar 24 and also locate in the groove 90to assist in securing the collar 24.

Engaging member 76 is screw threaded into the hole 72 which is locatedso that the ball 80 is received in the groove 90 and can thereforelocate in any one of the detents 92. The engaging member 74 passesthrough the collar 24 and the ball 78 can locate in any one of thedetents in any one of the sets 50A, 50B, 50C, or 50D.

The set of detents 50A may be spaced apart by a distance of 85 mm whichrepresents the course height in clay brickwork. The 50C may be spacedapart by a distance of 100 mm which represents the course height inmasonry brickwork. The detents 50B may be spaced apart by a distance of200 mm which represents the course height in masonry block work. Thedetents 50D may be spaced apart by yet a further and greater distancewhich represents another standard measurement or excavation work etc. Inorder to provide easy recognition of the sets of detents the grooves 52may each be coloured a different colour to correspond to a particulartype of brick work and to allow easy alignment of the sets on one of thesections with the sets on another of the sections.

A sighting target 26 is best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and comprises asight area 26a coupled to a shaft 26b the target area 26a and shaft 26bmay be coupled integrally and the upper portion of the shaft 26b has across-section which as is shown in FIG. 7. The cross-section of theshaft 26b includes a plurality of cut-out portions 26c and 26d onopposite sides of the shaft 26b. The upper portion of the section 28 isprovided with two internal lugs 29 which are shaped to correspond withthe shape of the portions 26c and are spaced apart to correspond withthe spacing of the portion 26c. The sighting target 26 is thereforelocked in the hollow section 28 by locating the lugs 29 in one of thepairs of recesses 26c on one side of the shaft 26b and then sliding theshaft 26b into the section 28. The recesses 26c and the lugs 29 providea frictional fit of the shaft 26b in the section 28 which securely holdsthe sighting target 26 in the section 28. The height of the sightingtarget can be adjusted relative to the section 28 by forcing the shaft26b further into the section 28 or drawing it outwardly of the section28 against the frictional fit of the shaft 26b in the section 28. Theprovision of recesses 26 on either side of the shaft 26b enables thesighting target to be rotated an amount of 180° and reinserted into thesection 28 if desired.

In order to use the stepping staff shown in FIG. 1, the stepping staffis located in a trench or relative to a course of bricks in brick workor the like by suitably supporting the staff. A surveyor or othertrained workman can then use an optical sighting tool to locate thesighting target 26 at a predetermined height by moving the shaft 26brelative to the section 28 to suitable locate the sighting target 26.Once the height of the sighting target 26 has been set unskilled workmancan simply adjust the height of the stepping staff in incrementscorresponding to the course height of bricks with which they are workingor by another incremental height corresponding to the spacing of detentsin one of the sets 50A to 50D. This is achieved by firstly gripping thesection 12 with one hand and sliding the section 24 at least a short wayout of the section 12 so that the section 14 can be rotated about thelongitudinal axis of the stepping staff 10 so that the engaging member56 is engaged in any one of the D dents in the appropriate set ofdetents corresponding to the measurement distance required for therelevant type of work. This is done by simply rotating the section 14relative to the section 12 and collar 20 so that the engaging member 56engages in one of the appropriate detents which is colour coded for easyrecognition by a workman. The set of detents in the section 16 must thenbe aligned with the corresponding set of detents in the section 14. Thisis done by holding the section 16 in one hand and rotating the collar 24relative to the section 16 so that the engaging member 74 disengagesfrom the detent in which it is located and is rotated to locate in adetent in the set corresponding to the set of D dents with which theengaging member 56 is engaged. Rotation of the collar relative to thesection 16 will cause the section 14 and the section 12 to also rotaterelative to the section 16 because of the coupling of the collar to thesection 14 via the engaging member 76 and its spring loaded ball 80 andthe engagement of the section 14 to the section 12 via the engagingmember 56 and its spring loaded ball 62. Once the engaging member 74 islocated in the appropriate set of detents the section 14 is then grippedwith one hand and the collar 24 is rotated relative to the section 14 tobring the set of detents with which the member 74 is engaged intovertical alignment with the set of detents with which the member 56 isengaged. Since the section 14 is gripped and the collar 24 is rotatedthe ball 80 will leave the detent in which it is located and ride in thegroove 92 until it locates in the appropriate detent. The engagementbetween the collar 24 and the section 16 by virtue of the engagingmember 74 and he spring loaded ball 78 will result in the section 16rotating with the collar 24 until the set of detents with which the ball78 is engaged is in vertical alignment with the set of detents withwhich the engaging member 56 is engaged.

Therefore the engaging members 56 and 74 are engaged with a detent inthe same set of detents 50A, or 50B, or 50C or 50D.

In order to increase or decrease the height of the sighting target byone or more courses of bricks or by any other measurement correspondingto the distance between the detents in the appropriate set of detentswith which the members 74 and 56 are engaged the sections 12 and 14and/or the sections 16 and 14 are moved relative to one another byappropriately moving the sections in the vertical direction so that theball 62 the engaging member 56 leaves the detent in which it is locatedand rides in the groove 52 corresponding to that set of detents until itlocates in one of the other detents in the set of detents. The ball 78in the engaging member 74 may ride in its groove 52 in the same mannerwhen the sections 16 and 14 are moved relative to one another until itlocates in another detents in that set of detents. By moving one of thesections relative to another of the section 16 an amount of one spacingbetween detents (i.e. from one detent to the next detent) the sightingtarget has been raised or lowered by a distance of the spacing betweendetents (i.e. 85 mm in the case of the set of 50A). Since the locationof the ball 78 or ball 62 in a detent results when the ball moves fromthe groove 52 into the larger recess which defines the a distinct clickis heard when the ball engages the detent. By simply moving one sectionrelative to another section by drawing them apart or pushing themtogether and counting the clicks a workman can decide how many coursesof brickwork or the like he has raised or lowered the sight target 26.For instance, if it is merely desired to increase the sighting target 26by one course height then the sections are moved further apart until oneclick is heard. The workman then knows that the sight 26 has beenincreased by one course height if it is desired to increase the courseheight by five or ten courses to allow for a window or the like in abuilding then the sections are moved apart until five clicks arecounted.

The length of the shaft 26b is preferably about 250 mm although otherlengths could be used if desired. A length of 250 mm provides sufficientadjustment of the sighting target 26 relative to the section 28 for theinitial set up of the stepping staff since in most cases maximum courseheight will be 200 mm and a movement of 100 mm upwardly or downwardly issufficient to locate the sighting target 26 at a course height.

The lengths of the section 12, 14 and 16 is preferably approximately 900mm but once again other lengths could be used if desired.

The section 28 can be locked to the section 16 by a collar 21 and detentarrangement similar to the collar 20 or the collar 24. Alternatively,the section 28 could be done away with and the shaft 26b received in thesection 16.

FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the invention in which likereference numerals indicate like parts to those described in conjunctionwith the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 8.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9 the engaging means is arranged so that themovement of the engaging means radially outwardly with respect to thesections 12, 14 and 16 is limited so that the engaging means must locatein a circmferentially extending groove in order to enable the sectionsto rotate relative to one another and must ride in the groove 52 whenthe height of the staff is being adjusted. This ensures that thesections can only be rotated when the engaging means is located in itscircumferential groove so that the sections are not rotated when theyare randomly positioned relative to one another and must ride in thegrooves 52 when height adjustment takes place to prevent damage to thetape measure located on the sections or damage to any other markings onthe sections.

As shown in FIG. 9, the collar 24 is provided with two blocks 101 and102. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 the blocks 101 and 102 are screwthreaded into screw threaded holes 70 and 72. However, in otherembodiments the blocks 101 and 102 could be smooth sided and merelyforced into smooth sided holes to be retained by friction, welding orany other means. The blocks 101 and 102 have a recess 103 which receivesa spring 104. Arranged at the other end of the springs 104 is a plate105 and 105' which have a hemispherical ball portions 106 and 106'respectively. The hemispherical ball portion 106 associated with block101 is received in groove 90 and locatable in one of the holes 92 in thesame manner as the ball described with reference to the earlierembodiment. The distance between the rear surface 107 of the plate 105and the front surface 108 of the block 101 is such that the ball portion106 can move in the direction arrow D a distance which prevents completeremoval from the detents 92 but allows engagement in the groove 90. Thislimited movement of the ball portion 106 ensures that the ball portion106 always remain within the groove 90 or a detents 92 and therefore theball portion 106 is not only guided within the groove 90 but alsoprevents vertical movement of the collar 24 and the ball portion 106from riding on other portions of the section 14.

The upper portion of the section 16 is provided with a groove 110 whichis similar to the groove 90. The groove 110 joins a plurality of detents112 which are arranged at the top of the grooves 52 in each set ofdetents 50A, 50B, 50C and 50D and which are deeper than the groove 110and of larger diameter than the width of groove 110. Once again thedistance between the rear surface 113 of the plate 105' associated withblock 102 and the front surface 115 of block 102 is arranged such thatthe movement of the ball portion 106 in the direction of arrow D enablesthe ball portion to be moved only a sufficient distance out of thedetents 112 so that it can locate in the groove 110 but not completelyout of the groove 110. Therefore in this embodiment of the inventionwhen it is desired to rotate the section 16 relative to the collar 24and/or the section 14 it is necessary to completely telescope thesections 14 and 16 together with the ball 106' riding in a groove 52associated with one of the sets of detents until the ball 106' islocated in one of the detents 112. The section 16 may then be rotatedrelative to the collar 24 and/or the section 14 by gripping the collar24 and rotating the section 16 so that the ball 106' is forced out ofthe detents 112 and into the groove 110. The section 16 can then berotated until the ball 106' is located in a detents 112 which isassociated with the desire one of the sets of detents 50A to 50D. Thearrangement shown in FIG. 9 therefore prevents the section 16 from beingrotated until the ball 106' is located in one of the detents 112. Sincethe section 16 can only be rotated when the staff is in thisconfiguration, the rotation of the section 16 relative to the collar 24does not cause the tape 36b on the section 16 to be scuffed or marked orany other markings on the section 16 to be scuffed or marked which wouldotherwise be the case if the section 16 is allowed to rotate in anyrandom position of the section 16 relative to the section 14.

Since the distance between the rear wall 113 of the plate 105' and thefront wall 115 of the block 102 is selected to enable the ball portion106' to move out of a detents 112 only a sufficient distance to locatein the groove 110, the ball 106' cannot be completely removed from oneof the detents in the sets 50A to 50D or the respective groove 52 andtherefore the tape 36b and other markings or the section 16 areprotected. The only time the ball 106' can leave one of the detents inthe sets of detents 50A to 50D is when the sections 14 and 16 aretelescopically moved relative to one another so that the ball 106' canbe removed from one of the detents and into the groove 52 to allowrelative telescopic movement of the sections 14 and 16 or when the ball106' is located in a top detent 112.

To further secure the collar 24 to the sections 14 screws (not shown)could pass through the collar 24 and locate in the groove 90 to furthersecure the collar 24 against vertical movement relative to the section14.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9 a similar arrangement to that describedabove is provided to allow rotation of the collar 20 relative to thesection 14. To achieve this the collar 20 includes a bore 54 and a screwthreaded block 125 which is similar to the blocks 101 and 102. The block125 has a spring 127 which biases a plate 128 having a hemisphericalball portion 129. Once again an upper portion of the section 14 isprovided with a groove 130 which is located somewhat below the groove90. The groove 130 joins a series of detents 132 which are verticallyaligned with each of the sets of detents 50A to 50B and which alsocommunicate with the grooves 52 in the respective sets of detents 50A to50B. The collar 20 functions in a similar manner to the collar 24 sothat when it is desired to rotate the section 14 relative to the section12 it is necessary to telescope the sections 14 and 12 together so thatthe collar 20 is arranged with the ball portion 129 located in one ofthe detents 132 associated with groove 130. The spacing between theblock 125 and the plate 128 is such that the ball portion 129 can beremoved out of the detents 132 only a distance sufficient to locate itin the groove 130 but not a distance sufficient to leave the groove 130.Therefore, the section 14 can only be rotated relative to the collar 20and section 12 when the ball portion 129 is located in one of thedetents 132 so that tape 36a or any other marking on the section 12 isnot defaced by movement of the ball portion 129 over those markings ortape. When the ball portion 129 is located in one of the detentsassociated with the sets 50A to 50B below the detents 132 rotation ofthe section 14 relative to the collar 20 and section 12 cannot takeplace because the ball 29 cannot leave the detents in the sets 50A to50D until the ball is located in one of the detents 132.

In other embodiments (not shown) the grooves 110 and 130 could belocated at the bottom or an intermediate position of the sections 16 and14 so that the staff must be fully or partly extended before rotation ofthe sections can take place. The distance between the blocks 101, 102and 125 and the plates 105, 105' and 128 can be adjusted by screwing theblocks into or out of their respective screw threaded holes. If theblocks are to be permanently retained in place by welding or the likeand they must be accurately located before they are fastened in place.

If desired the collar 20 could be arranged to rotate relative to section12 to facilitate alignment of the tape 36. To this end a groove (notshown) could be provided in the section 12 for receiving the screw 22(See FIG. 3) so that the collar 20 can rotate but cannot move verticallyrelative to the section 12.

The preferred embodiments of this invention therefore provide a steppingstaff which can be used as a brick stepping course rod to measure ordetermine course heights for brick work and a surveying staff forgeneral surveying purposes to measure relative heights without the needfor a workman to measure actual graduations on the staff once thesighting target on the staff has been set by a surveying operation.Thus, all that is required with the present invention is for a skilledsurveyor or the like to set the staff once by setting the sightingtarget relative to the rod 12 or 12A and then by simple movement of therods relative to one another in view of the spacing of the detents theheight of the target can be adjusted by prescribed distancescorresponding to brick course heights or other desired distances whichcan be incorporated into the staff to enable further relativemeasurements to be made by unskilled workers since it is not necessaryfor those skilled workers to make accurate measurement readings on thestaff. All that is required is for them to move the sections of thestaff relative to one another to maintain a count of a number of detentswhich the engaging means moves over by simply counting the number ofclicks which are caused each time a detent is engaged or passed duringrelative movement of the sections.

The locking devices may be any of the devices shown or combinationsthereof or other suitable mechanisms.

The stepping staff can also be used to set a gradient for plumbing orthe like by setting a first level and the moving the staff to anotherlocation, for example, 6 meters away and then moving the sections 12 and14 or 14 and 16 relative to one another to set the gradient. One of thesets of detents could be used to set a standard gradient so that "oneclick" represents a gradient of 1 unit in 6 meters, "two clicks" agradient of 2 units in 6 meters and so on.

Since modification within the spirit and scope of the invention mayreadily be effected by persons skilled within the art, it is to beunderstood that this invention is not limited to the particularembodiment described by way of example hereinabove.

I claim:
 1. A stepping staff, said stepping staff having a plurality ofsections coupled together for movement relative to one another, one ofsaid sections having a sighting target, at least one of said pluralityof said sections having a plurality of sets of coupling means, and anadjacent one of the sections having engaging means for engaging with oneof the coupling means in one of the set, each coupling means in each setof coupling means being spaced apart by a prescribed distance, theprescribed distance between coupling means in one set of coupling meansbeing different to the prescribed distance between coupling means inanother of the sets of coupling means, and wherein upon relativemovement of the at least one section and adjacent section one couplingmeans on the at least one section can be coupled with the engaging meanson the adjacent section and wherein said plurality of sections arerotatable relative to one another to enable the engaging means to engagewith a coupling means in any of the sets of coupling means.
 2. Thestepping staff of claim 1, wherein each coupling means comprises arecess and the engaging means is a collar which supports a loaded ballwhich engages with a recess on the sections to couple the sectionstogether.
 3. The stepping staff of claim 2, wherein the plurality ofsets of coupling means have their recesses spaced apart by differentprescribed distance.
 4. A stepping staff having a plurality of sectionscoupled together for telescopic movement relative to each other, a firstsection of said plurality of sections having a first collar mountedthereon, a second section of said plurality of sections having aplurality of sets of substantially vertically aligned coupling membersspaced about said second section, said first collar supporting a firstengaging member which is engagable with a coupling member in anyone ofsaid sets of coupling members, said second section being rotatable aboutits longitudinal axis relative to said first collar so that the firstengaging member can be brought into engagement with said coupling memberin one of the sets of coupling members, and said first and secondsections can be telescopically moved relative to one another to locatethe engaging member in another of the coupling members in said one ofsaid sets to adjust the height of the stepping staff by an incrementaldistance.
 5. A stepping staff according to claim 4, wherein said secondsection has a second collar mounted thereon, said second collar havinglocking means for locking said second collar to said second section sothat the second collar can be either fixed relative to the secondsection or rotated about the axis of the second section relative to thesecond section, a third section of said plurality of sections beinglocated adjacent to said second section, said third section having aplurality of sets of coupling members, said second collar having asecond engaging member for engaging any one of the coupling members onthe third section, and wherein said second collar is rotatable with thefirst and the second sections relative to the third section to locatesaid second engaging member with the set of coupling members on thethird section corresponding to the coupling members engaged by the firstengaging member on the second section, and said second collar and thethird section are rotatable relative to the first and second sections tobring the set of engaging members on the second section into alignmentwith those in the third section, said second and third section beingtelescopically movable to engage the second engaging member in anothercoupling member in the set of coupling members on the third section tofurther incrementally adjust the height of the staff.
 6. The steppingstaff according to claim 5, wherein said first and second engagingmembers are screw threaded members received in screw threaded holes inthe first and second collars, said screw threaded members having aspring loaded ball and wherein said coupling members are recesses whichreceive said balls.
 7. The stepping staff of claim 5, wherein saidcoupling members in each set are joined by a groove.
 8. The steppingstaff of claim 5, wherein said second section has a groove about itsperiphery which is provided with locking recesses in alignment with eachset of engaging members, the locking means having a spring loaded ballwhich is locatable in one of the locking recesses to lock the secondcollar to the second section, said spring loaded ball being movable outof the locking recess in the said groove to allow the collar to rotaterelative to the second section.
 9. The stepping staff according to claim4, wherein one of said sections includes a sighting target.
 10. Thestepping staff according to claim 4, wherein each coupling member ineach set of coupling members is joined by a groove and each groove iscolour coded for easy recognition.
 11. The stepping staff according toclaim 4, wherein said first engaging member is arranged for limitedmovement with respect to said sections such that said first engagingmember cannot be completely disengaged from said coupling members, aretaining member joining a coupling member in each set of couplingmembers such that the engaging member must be located in one of thecoupling members which are joined by the retaining member so that thelimited outward movement of the engaging member is sufficient to allowthe first engaging member to enter the retaining means so that saidsecond section can be rotated relative to the first collar.
 12. Astepping staff according to claim 11, wherein said engaging membercomprises a block and a ball member, the coupling members compriserecesses and the retaining member comprises a groove, which is shallowerthan said recesses, biasing means disposed between the block and theball member for forcing said ball portion into engagement with thegroove and recesses, the distance between said block and said ballmember being such that said ball member is not able to be completelywithdrawn from said recesses but can be withdrawn from said recesses asufficient distance to enable the ball portion to locate in said groove.